Penn State Scandal Affecting Public Betting

With all of the media attention focusing on the sex scandal taking place at Penn State, it’s interesting to look at how this has affected the betting in this game. We don’t want to downplay the real story at hand, but the fact is that this game will get played, and people are going to bet on it. In fact, this game is now the most heavily bet in college football this week, with 79% of all spread wagers taking Nebraska as road favorites. It isn’t likely that public bettors will take Penn State and the points as it may feel immoral to root for JoePa and the Nittany Lions on Saturday (although bettors’ morality may be considered an oxymoron in some circles).

Below is the line chart available to Sports Insights’ members showing how Penn State opened as 2-point dogs and are now listed as 3.5-point home dogs. Also notice how Penn State opened with some public support (tracked by the white line) but as more news about the scandal leaked out, the support has shifted to Nebraska.